Sadiq Khan elected mayor of London

LONDON:(APS)MAY 7,2016- Opposition Labour lawmaker Sadiq Khan was elected mayor of London with 57 per cent of the vote, final results showed Saturday, making him the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital.

The 45-year-old son of a London bus driver and a seamstress won 1,310,143 votes against 994,614 for his main Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith, 41, the son a wealthy tycoon.

“Congratulations Sadiq Khan. Can’t wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all!” Corbyn wrote on Twitter ahead of the publication of final results.

After a negative campaign in which Khan was accused by his rival of sympathising with Islamic extremists, the 45-year-old former human rights lawyer promised in his acceptance speech to be a “mayor for all Londoners”.

“This election was not without controversy and I am so proud that London has today chosen hope over fear and unity over division,” he said after the result was declared at City Hall, to applause and cheers from supporters.

I hope that we will never be offered such a stark choice again. Fear doesn’t make us safer, it only makes us weaker, and the politics of fear is simply not welcome in our city.”

As he was speaking the candidate for the far-right Britain First party, Paul Golding, who was lined up with the other loosing candidates behind Khan, turned his back.

The local MP for Tooting, Khan succeeds the charismatic Boris Johnson, an advocate of Britain’s departure from the European Union who is seen as one of the favourites to succeed Cameron.

Other mayors including Anne Hidalgo in Paris and Bill de Blasio in New York quickly congratulated Khan.